NFL surprises after the first 3 weeks

After 3 weeks of NFL football, there are a few surprises that I am still shocked to see. Two teams which are undefeated were in the bottom 5 the past few years. A huge upset win against a top-tier team.

First off, I don’t care who you are. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Joe Montana. I don’t care if you throw 4 touchdown passes. You are not going to win a game if you also throw 4 interceptions. And Tom Brady did just that, and those hapless Buffalo Bills took the win from the New England Patriots, ending a 15 game losing streak (over 7 years, people).

Linda and I were headed to San Francisco yesterday for a concert in Golden Gate Park (Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch, and others), and we opted to take BART (bay area rapid transit) to get there. One of the stops it makes is right in front of the Oakland Coliseum (A’s and Raiders) and Oakland Arena (Golden State Warriors), and of course it being Sunday and the home opener for Oakland, there were masses of Raider fans decked out in their gear. I mumbled to Linda several times, not to be heard by fans that would likely have murdered me on the train, “the Jets are going to slaughter the Raiders).

A few short hours later, I see my phone for score updates, and the Raiders are up 31-21. Woah! A 34-24 final game score gave new head coach Hue Jackson his season opener, first game win. That, I couldn’t have predicted. At all.

Looking at the standings this year, not only are the Raiders and 49ers sitting pretty at 2-1, but the Twilight Zone has happened, and the Bills and Detroit Lions are both 3-0 — two teams that have been considered the worst over the past 2-3 years, now on top of the NFL with the Packers at undefeated (The Redskins play tonight and are 2-0). Those would likely have been the last 2 teams I’d have imagined would be starting 2011 off on a good note.

Also shocking? The Cleveland Browns are tied with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers at 2-1, Peyton Manning is out for the year and the Colts are 0-3 because of it, division-winning Chiefs are 0-3, Brett Favre -less Vikings are 0-3, division-winning Rams are 0-3. I suppose quarterbacks are the key to NFL success.